Dare to Tempt - Carly Phillips Page 0,66

at the kitchen table. Bags of makeup and other items covered the surface with Sephora bags surrounding them.

Hell of a punishment. But the woman with Emma wouldn’t know from discipline, structure, or anything else good for a young adult.

“Hi,” Macy said, making her presence known.

“Macy, look! My mom’s back!” Emma popped up from her chair, a smile the likes of which Macy had never seen on her sister’s face and Macy’s stomach twisted painfully.

Emma was a pretty girl who hadn’t learned the concept of less is more when it came to makeup. She’d just started to wear it last year and after their dad died, she’d gone full out rebellious. But there were worse things than too much makeup on her face or the pink stripe in her hair. Macy actually liked the coloring if only Emma hadn’t done it without asking permission, along with a second piercing in her ear. Anything she could do to defy Macy, Emma tried.

Ever since Lilah left when Emma was ten, she’d grown angrier over time and tried to get away with whatever she could on principle. The last thing Macy needed was her mother’s return. Emma’s mother had walked out on her daughter and husband five years ago, looking for someone with more money and who could give her a better lifestyle than Macy’s father had been able to as an accountant. As far as Macy knew, other than an occasional happy birthday email, Emma hadn’t heard from her mother since she’d left. Unless she’d been in communication with her and kept the information to herself.

“Lilah, this is a surprise,” Macy said coolly, as she placed her keys in a basket on the counter.

“I’ve done a lot of soul searching and I decided it was time to come home to my baby.” She reached across the table and squeezed Emma’s hand, her long, manicured nails obviously freshly done. “And I arrived to find her by herself. Where were you, Macy?”

Oh she would not question Macy’s abilities as a parent. She had no right. “Not that it’s any of your business but I was at an engagement party and Emma is old enough to be home alone.”

“Can mom stay with us?” Emma looked at Macy with wide hopeful eyes and Macy silently cursed Lilah, whose smug smirk told Macy she’d put her daughter up to asking the question.

Narrowing her gaze, Macy wondered what Lilah’s agenda was because the woman always looked out for number one. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We have a schedule and a routine and I’d like to keep things as they are.”

She didn’t want Emma to get used to having her mother around only for her to take off on her once again. The less time she was exposed to Lilah the better.

“It’s okay, honey, I’ll find a place to stay,” Lilah sighed dramatically.

Ignoring the guilt Lilah tried to lay on, Macy smiled. “Good. Now that that’s settled—”

Emma pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. “You’re such a—”

“Watch it,” Macy said before Emma could finish her sentence. “Don’t be rude to me. Now I think we should order dinner.” Gritting her teeth, she turned to Lilah. “Would you like to stay?”

Shaking her head, her brunette hair highlighted with blonde swept beneath her cheeks. Lilah rose to her feet and gathered her Chanel tote, which must have cost three thousand dollars easy, and smiled. “I wish I could but I have a date.” As she stepped around the table, Macy took in her obviously designer outfit and shoes.

So she was divorced. And home. Why?

“Come walk me out,” Lilah said to Macy, her tone not boding well.

Macy waited for Emma to say goodbye to her mother, glare at Macy, and storm off to her room before turning to her ex-step-mother. “Okay cut the sweetness and light act. Why are you back? It can’t be for Emma since you haven’t bothered with her since you left.”

Lilah straightened her shoulders, her attitude turning into the real bitch of a woman beneath the fake nice façade. “Because she’s my daughter. When I left I knew your father would take good care of her when I couldn’t—”

“Wouldn’t,” Macy corrected her.

Lilah pursed her lips. “Listen, she’s my daughter. Her father died and I needed to wrap up a few things before I could come back for her but I’m here now.”

Bullshit, Macy thought. “Nobody heard from you after dad passed away. You didn’t even come to the funeral or extend condolences. I’m not